Super sensitive magnetic sensor invented

Scientists at the National University of Singapore (NUS) said they have developed a hybrid sensor more sensitive than sensors currently available.

The scientists said that the invention will lead to the development of smaller and cheaper censors for electronics, comms, automotive and biotechnology applications.

The hybrid sensor developed by the scientists may meet the needs of high sensitivity to low and high magnetic fields, tunability and small resistance variations due to temperature.

The team claims that the sensor, which is made of graphene and boron nitride is 200 times more sensitive than commercially available sensors today.

Existing sensors are commonly made of silicon and indium antimonide, but these new sensors have an eight fold gain over previously reported laboratory results.

The magnetoresistance sensor industry is expected to be worth nearly $3 billion by the year 2020. One advantage over existing sensors is that there won’t be a need for silicon wafers or temperature corretion circuity, with production cost for graphene based sensors much lower.